Eilish Gorman's Mazda car was parked 20 yards down the road before it was smashed and overturned by the driver of the stolen fire engine at Glenarm Road, Larne, around 4.30am on Saturday

Stephen Kernohan

Published:11:52Sunday 06 March 2016

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A woman whose car was overturned when a stolen fire engine smashed into it on Saturday morning said: “Yesterday, I was worried whether it would get through the MOT next week.”

Like most of her neighbours, Eilish Gorman is still in shock as police and Fire and Rescue personnel examine the scene of the bizarre crash that took place at 4.30am.

Glenarm Road resident Eilish Gorman

“I didn’t hear a thing, but my husband heard it and thought it must have been a bomb,” said Mrs Gorman.

“This is a quiet area. The road is busy during the day, but it’s very quiet at night.

“Most of the people who live here are elderly and we’re not used to this kind of thing. I think everybody is in a state of shock, but thankfully nobody was hurt, and that is the main thing.”

Mrs Gorman’s black Mazda was overturned and shunted 30 yards along the road by the impact. Looking at the crumpled wreckage this morning, she said: “It’s hard to believe it’s the same car I went shopping in yesterday. To think I was worried about it getting through its MOT next week.”

Structural damage was caused to the Larne fire and rescue station at Agnew Street as the £200,000 tender was stolen. A folding door was hit and brickwork on the front wall has shifted.

On Old Glenarm Road, at least six cars parked on the road were damaged. Some show the signs of severe sideways blows caused as the tender scraped past.

Mrs Gorman’s car ended up resting on its bonnet on the footpath.

Another car was pushed into the middle of the road, facing in the opposite direction before the fire engine finally came to a halt against the front door of a mid-terrace house.